


The world slowly falls apart

by Raptarion



Series: Momswap [1]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Momswap, Momswap AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-30
Updated: 2015-12-30
Packaged: 2018-05-10 09:40:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5580691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raptarion/pseuds/Raptarion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One night, while playing games with the crystal gems Lapis, Jasper, and Peridot, Steven discovers evidence of an old mistake. The Moon Goddess statue he had left behind by accident a while back, which had caused the sea spire to fall into the sea.</p><p>Lapis seems upset by this, and Steven finds out why.</p><p>Starts the same as the episode "The test" in canon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The world slowly falls apart

"So, what board game do you want to play next?" Steven asks the other gems.  
"Oh. There are... more of them. How... lovely." Peridot says, trying her best to sound enthusiastic.  
"Yeah I got lots of games in here." Steven says, listing through all of them. While rummaging around, something clatters loose from the pile onto the floor. He looks down, and a pit falls into his stomach.

"Oh... I didn't even know I still had this." Steven says, picking it up.  
"Is that what I think it is?" Jasper asks.  
"It's the moon goddess statue." Peridot says.

Lapis stands up silently and walks around the edge of the table.  
"Uh... are you alright Lapis?" Peridot asks.  
She kneels in front of Steven, and takes the statue from his hands. She looks at it intently.

"I'm sorry again guys. Because of me, the spire ended up falling into the ocean." Steven says.  
"Well, you win some you lose some." Jasper says.  
"What?" Steven asks, taken aback at her nonchalance.  
"Jasper, don't just brush that off." Peridot scolds.  
"What? We lost the spire, bit whoop."  
"But... wasn't the spire this big super important gem... thing?" Steven asks. He recalled Lapis excitedly talking about how amazing the spire was back in its' prime. And she had been angry when Jasper had destroyed even a single statue to knock away one of those crystal shrimp monsters.  
Jasper raises her hand and tilts it back and forth in a "So-so" gesture.  
"It was expendable for sure. I wouldn't have even bothered myself. But it was important to- Lapis! Where are you going?" Jasper says, standing up.  
Steven turns around in time to see Lapis walk out the door into the rain.

"Oh great. Now look what you've done." Peridot snaps.  
"How is this my fault?" Jasper asks.  
"If you were a bit more sensitive she wouldn't have stormed off."  
"Should we go after her?" Steven asks.  
"We probably should yeah." Peridot says, standing up.

She and Steven rush out the door. They see Lapis through the storm, summoning her water wings on the beach and flying off towards the ocean.  
"Where is she going?" Steven shouts over the wind.  
"I have a pretty good idea. We need to get the boat from the dock."

Steven and Peridot make their way to the docks, grabbing the motorboat Peridot had made a long time ago as a pet project. Peridot turns on the engine and heads out to sea. It was only a few minutes journey, but it still brought them to the edge of the storm. Dark clouds were replaced with clear sky. The stars and the moon glowed brightly, cutting through the dark of the night, and creating scattered reflections of light over the dark water of the ocean.

Soon, they saw evidence of Lapis. Out in the middle of the ocean was a platform of water, raised above the soft turmoil of the ocean. Peridot approaches, and when she does, Steven sees that the platform wasn't everything Lapis had done out here. A huge circular section of the ocean was opened up, leading down into darkness.  
"What's she doing?" Steven asks.  
"Nothing practical. She's probably just brooding. You need to go talk to her." Peridot says, pulling up to the platform. A staircase of water was made leading down to the boat, as if Lapis was waiting for them, and was inviting them up.  
"Aren't you coming too?" Steven asks, stepping out onto the stairs.  
"No. I can't go through this conversation again. She won't listen to me. But maybe she'll listen to you. Maybe you can finally convince her to stop living in the past."

Steven isn't sure what that means. But he nods in determination anyway, before ascending the stairs. He finds Lapis, sitting down, looking over the edge of the platform. He approaches the edge cautiously, and looks down as well. Deep down, where the light almost couldn't reach, he saw the sea spire. It looked in even worse condition than he remembered it.

"I put the statue on the pedestal." Lapis says, unprovoked.  
"Is that... going to do anything?" He asks, uncertain.  
"No. It isn't. It just seemed the right thing to do." She says.  
"Oh." Steven says, sitting down.

"Peridot said we should talk."  
Lapis doesn't say anything.  
"You're feeling bad about the sea spire right? Can I ask why? Jasper and Peridot don't seem to think it's important. But you do."

"What do you think would happen if everyone left beach city Steven?"  
"What?"  
"Just imagine it for a second. Imagine everyone had to leave, and you couldn't go after them. You had to stay behind."  
"That sounds like it would be very lonely."  
"It would, wouldn't it? What would you do?"  
"I... guess I'd be sad for a while but, eventually I'd have to do something so... go to the arcade?"  
"Well let's pretend you did that. But after not too long there's a problem. The power goes out. Nobody is managing the power generators after all. What now?"  
"I'd go and fix them?"  
"Do you know how?"  
"I... no."  
"Well you can try. You would probably fail though. So now there's no power. But of course, that's only the first of your troubles. The homes and workplaces of all your friends will get dirty over time wouldn't they. Dust and mold builds up. So maybe you try to clean those up. But there are so many buildings that need cleaning Steven. It takes so long to do it. And wild animals start moving in, because there are no people left that would keep them away. They tear up the furniture, and the wallpaper. Can you keep them from doing that Steven? And the weather starts to create rust on the support beams to that statue above the big donut, and it breaks off and falls down. Can you put it back all on your own Steven? Then there is rot and termites that eat away at the foundations of the buildings. At first they were small problems, but they became bigger and bigger as time went on. And you didn't even know they were there. How can you stop an enemy you can't see Steven?"

Lapis had been talking faster, her tone becoming angrier, and almost sadder as well.

"Now imagine it's not just beach city. Imagine everyone on earth leaves! Every city on the planet is exposed to the elements, and you're alone! You struggle with preserving a single town. But every city on earth now only has you to keep it in repair. You have to decide what you want to save, and what you will ignore. What you will abandon. Could you do that Steven? Could you choose?"  
"I... I don't know."  
"I had to choose Steven. Because that's exactly what happened to me. The gems made amazing things Steven. All across the planet. Marvelous structures. They were breathtaking. There were countless wonders here on earth. Each more beautiful than the last. But after the war, many of them were damaged. And those that weren't were exposed to the elements. And I was the only one who really cared that time was slowly chipping away at them. I devoted every hour, every minute, to maintaining the remnants of gem society. Over a thousand years of my life was spent on this. I learned quickly that I couldn't save everything. At first I only abandoned a few gem structures. Then I abandoned more. Eventually I decided to only focus on a handful, to preserve them perfectly. But no matter how many compromises I made in my goal, it didn't matter. They all disappeared one by one.

It was a fools errand from the beginning, but I refused to see it. How can you stop the entire world from crumbling away?"

There is silence. The wind picks up for a bit, causing ripples along the water.

"I'm sorry." Steven says, ridden with guilt. Lapis turns to look at him.  
"I didn't know how important the sea spire was to you. If it wasn't for me, it would still be here. It's all my fault. I ruined everything you-"

Steven stops talking as Lapis suddenly pulls him into a hug.  
"Don't! Please. It's not your fault Steven. The sea spire, or at least what it was supposed to be, was lost long ago. It's only a building in the end. All I was keeping was a reminder of what I've lost."  
"But *sniffle* it was still important to you." Steven says through the tears that were welling up.  
"I'd lose it all over again a hundred times, if it mean't I didn't have to see you cry." Lapis says, wiping away his tears.  
"Come on Steven. Let's go home." She says, standing up and taking his hand. She leads him down the steps back to the boat where Peridot sat waiting.  
"Hey guys... uh... you OK Steven?" She asks. He was still wiping away tears. He nods silently. They step into the boat.  
"I guess we're heading back then?" Peridot asks, seeming unsure.  
"Yes." Lapis says.

Peridot starts the engine back up. Lapis turns to Steven.  
"I'm sad for what I've lost Steven. But that doesn't mean I can't be happy where I am now. I have you and Peridot and Jasper. You're all my family. You're what's important right now."  
"I'm still sorry about what happened. About messing up."  
"It's alright. You learned from it. You grew. It's all I can ask."

The boat starts to move, away from the sunken remains of the sea spire. Lapis looks back, letting the water she had parted go, crashing all around the sunken monument. She doesn't look back for some time. When she does, she's smiling.

Steven seems contented by this.

Peridot knows it's fake.


End file.
